Mason City Nebraska - Nebraska Directory

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Village · Custer County · Population 151 (2020 census) · ZIP 68855 · Founded 1886 · Peak population 487 (1920)

About Mason City

Mason City is a village of 151 people (2020) on NE 2, the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway, in southeastern Custer County, at about 2,264 feet, 6 miles southeast of Ansley. It has the Sunshine Township Library, Memorial Park, a community building, a rodeo arena and Homeward Trails Bible Camp; the school has closed, and students attend nearby districts. Mason City is on Central Time.

History

The People’s Bank opened in February 1886, and the town was platted that year as the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad extended west; the first train came in July and George Runyan became postmaster in August. The railroad called the station Mason, for Oliver Perry Mason, a former Nebraska Supreme Court judge, and residents made it Mason City. School District 169 was organized in 1887. By the 1920s the village had two banks, a hospital, a flour mill and a cement plant, and it reached 487 people in 1920. The Mason City Homecoming began in 1919 as a three-day Harvest Homecoming in August and drew about 20,000 people in the 1930s; it is now held in July. For the 1986 centennial the town set a marker on Main Street and a wind sculpture on NE 2.

Highways and trails through Mason City

Route	One way	Other way
NE 2Through the village	Northwest to Ansley and Broken Bow	Southeast to Litchfield and Grand Island

Nearby towns

Ansley	about 6 mi northwest	NE 2
Litchfield	about 9 mi east-southeast	NE 2
Cumro	about 13 mi southwest	County roads
Berwyn	about 14 mi northwest	NE 2
Westerville	about 14 mi north-northwest	NE 2 and US 183
Hazard	about 15 mi southeast	NE 2
Arcadia	about 17 mi north-northeast	County roads
Loup City	about 18 mi east-northeast	County roads and NE 92
Broken Bow	about 22 mi northwest	NE 2
Kearney	about 38 mi south-southeast	NE 2 and NE 10

Things to see

the 1935 Mason City School, 750 Main St., a Colonial Revival building by John P. Helleberg (National Register) · iron sculptures by Richard Martin and the centennial wind sculpture on NE 2 · the Sunshine Township Library, 417 Main St. · the Mason City Homecoming each July

Schools and health care

Schools: No school in the village; Ansley Public Schools, (308) 935-1121, and Litchfield are the nearest

Health care: Nearest hospital: Jennie M. Melham Memorial Medical Center, 145 Memorial Dr., Broken Bow, (308) 872-4100, about 22 mi

Sources: U.S. Census; Wikipedia; NEGenWeb Custer County (place names); Custer County Tourism; Custer County Historical Society; History Nebraska (markers); National Register listings; Nebraska Game and Parks; Nebraska DHHS hospital and clinic rosters; Nebraska 211; SchoolDigger; Nebraska Secretary of State; City of Broken Bow; Village of Callaway; VisitNebraska; NEBRASKAland; Geological Society of America abstracts; KRVN, KNOP, KOLN 10/11 and Custer County Chief reports. Distances marked "about" are straight-line estimates.